Halo Legend of the Valkyrur
by Vineman
Summary: When Selvaria's Final Flame unexpectedly sends her to the far distant future, she'll have to use all of her Valkyrian power to help the Spartans save humanity from the Winter Contingency.
1. Chapter 1

**Harvest Campaign Report**

**Spartan: 023 Daisy**

From the moment we arrived on Harvest, it was apparent that any attempt to retake the planet would be a lost cause. Soon, the Covenant had forced us back and we were left with no choice but to abandon the planet… We found her just after the order was given to retreat. A woman with long silver hair and dark red eyes whose incredible power was unlike any I'd ever seen before. If not for her… I have no doubt that none of us would still be alive.

**Spartan: 117 John**

I heard about the woman a short time after Harvest. We first met a short time after the fall of Reach. I'll admit, right from the start… we all knew she was different.

**UNSC Artificial intelligence: CTN 0452-9 Cortana**

To simply call her incredible would be an understatement. She was, as it were, one of the goddesses themselves, stepping right out of the pages of legends. The Valkyrur, Selvaria Bles.

**HALO**

**LEGEND OF THE VALKYRUR**

**Gallia: Ghirlandaio Citadel: year 1935**

"Ahhh, I could get used to this," General Damon declared sitting himself on the throne once resided in by Prince Maximillian, "It's my throne for a day!"

"General, you look like you belong there, considering what you've accomplished," a soldier declared standing next to the general.

"Ahhh, yes, after dealing the final blow to the empire, I proceeded to capture the Valkyria alive. I doubt that there is greater glory to be had then that," Damon declared gazing at Selvaria Bles. The once proud Valkyria now stood, her arms bound behind her and two armed guards on either side of the now seemingly helpless woman. "Now that I think about it, that promotion to Marshall may not be far off."

"General, when did the forces transporting the prisoners leave?" Selvaria asked suddenly.

"Well, let's see," Damon replied scratching his chin, "I'd say about three hours ago."

"Excellent, that should be enough time."

"Enough time for what! You're just a bird in a cage now. A cage from which you will never emerge! Have you forgotten yourself, Witch!"

"You are the one who forgets, General," Selvaria replied as a blinding blue light, "witness the power of the Valkyria's flame. Fueled by the dying embers of her own life… it blossoms into Hell's own inferno!" she cried as the aura erupted into a massive blue flame. Within minutes, the entire Citadel had been encased with flame and all who had been caught in the blast were dead… or at least… so it was thought.

….

**Planet Harvest: year 2525**

Three marines ran desperately for cover as the covenant suddenly ambushed them. Two made it, but one was not as lucky as a plasma round hit him, blowing him to pieces.

"Darn it! They finally give the order to pull out and now this!" their leader, Sergeant Hauser, shouted angrily, "well you can forget it. I'm not dying here!" he shouted as he and the surviving marine turned and returned fire on the encroaching covenant. A couple more marines soon joined their lines and a fierce battle had soon erupted in the streets. Even with the reinforcements though, the covenant soon began to break their lines, killing a far more marines then the marines were taking down of them.

"No!" Hauser shouted as the sky suddenly filled with covenant drones preparing to fire down on the defenseless marines. Suddenly, gun shots began to ring out and the drones began to drop one by one. In a building above the marines, a Spartan wearing red and black armor continued to gun down drones with a shotgun. The gun ran out of ammo, but the Spartan quickly cast aside the shotgun, pulling an assault rifle from her back and continuing the attack as she did. The drones fell one by one to the well placed bursts of the assault rifle.

"Now we're talkin! Alright boys, let's give our chief petty officer some back!" Hauser ordered as the men prepared to resume their attack. However, all the fighting suddenly stopped as a blinding blue light suddenly engulfed the area.

"What the…" the Spartan said staring down into the light in shock. The light soon cleared, revealing a beautiful woman with long silver hair who lay on her stomach, seemingly unconscious. For almost a minute, both covenant and human stared at the strange woman who finally stirred and climbed to her feet, gazing over the strange aliens before her, her dark red eyes showing both surprise and confusion at the strange place she now found herself in and the even stranger creatures that now faced her. An elite was the first to begin firing again, aiming a plasma pistol round for Selvaria's head which the Valkyrur easily dodged.

"I guess I can assume that you are not my allies," Selvaria declared as her blue Valkyrian flame appeared around her. Two elites charged at her with energy swords, but she quickly ducked under the attacks, kicked up, and snapped the arm of one of the elites who dropped his sword. Selvaria quickly seized the plasma blade by its handle, running through the second elite and taking his sword as well which she used to decapitate the remaining elite. "I do not know where I am, or how I have come to be here, but it appears that I will have to wait until a later time to discover those answers," she stated simply as she moved her head to the side, barely evading a fuel rod cannon that struck the wall of a building. She faced the covenant again, but turned her head when something suddenly rolled against the back of her legs. Her eyes widened with surprise as she gazed down… at a Valkyrian lance! Looking at the wall that had just fallen, she saw that the building inside had been some kind of church… a Valkyrian shield was still attached to a stand which hung off a broken portion of the wall. A second stand lay next to it, large enough to hold the lance.

With no time to think, Selvaria quickly cast aside one of her swords, picking up the lance and firing a beam of blue light into the covenant which blew several of them away. Caught off guard by the attack, the Covenant hesitated for a moment, giving Selvaria just enough time to grab the shield. She held it up just in time to block the Covenant's resumed. The Covenant were surprised to see that no matter what they fired at the strange woman, her shield blocked it without receiving a single scratch!

"I have no time for this," Selvaria sighed, "bow before the Valkyria's flame!" she shouted as a large burst of blue light shot from the shield, engulfing dozens more of the Covenant forces. Faced with the unfamiliar and apparently superior opponent, the Covenant finally determined to retreat, leaving the humans to wonder what had happened.

"That was… incredible," the Spartan declared. She had witnessed the entire battle as it had occurred from her position above the ground. A noise behind her caught her attention. She sidestepped just in time to evade the shot of a Plasma Pistol, but found herself tackled out the window of the building by a drone who slammed her hard into the ground and raised its pistol for the kill. Before it could fire, however, a flash of blue light cut through it, blowing it away from the downed Spartan. The girl climbed to her feet and removed her helmet, revealing herself to be a lovely young girl with bright blue eyes and shoulder length blonde hair. A mix of fear and awe crept through the Spartan as she stared into the shining red eyes of the Valkyrur.


	2. Chapter 2

**HALO**

**LEGEND OF THE VALKYRUR**

"What the heck is she?" Hauser wondered staring in awe at the woman who had just saved them.

"Bathed in blue flame and wielding lance and shield…" a soldier said, "I've heard Yggdists talk about a race of women from a long time ago who had those same traits."

"Yggdists? You mean those nuts who're always going on about the 'holy Valkyria'?" another soldier replied, "that's just crazy talk."

"Crazy or not, that woman likely saved our lives," the Spartan declared joining the marines.

"Yeah, we can definitely agree on that," Hauser replied, "so… what's our position?"

"This planet is lost, sir," the Spartan declared, "and if what we've seen here is anything to judge by, it won't be the last."

"I see," Hauser replied grabbing a wireless transmitter from his belt, "here, you're probably gonna report to command. While you're at it, see if they can get us off of this darn rock."

"Right," the Spartan replied taking the communicator and looking over at Selvaria who was beginning to wander off. "Hey! Wait, don't wander off! It's dangerous!"

"Dangerous? Are you saying that because you're concerned for me or what might happen to you if I'm not around?" Selvaria asked, "I have no time to babysit you. I need to figure out where I am."

"Figure out where you are? You're on Harvest," Hauser shouted as though it were obvious.

"Harvest?" Selvaria replied, obviously confused.

"Yeah, Harvest. The big agricultural planet," Hauser replied, "what, you been living under a rock the last hundred years?"

"Harvest… how far are we from Gallia?" Selvaria asked, still a little uncertain.

"Gallia, sorry lady, I've got no idea what you're talking about. Where's Gallia?" Hauser replied.

"You're from Gallia?" the Spartan asked.

"Do you know where it is?" Selvaria asked.

"I know someone who lived there," the Spartan replied, "but the planet that Gallia was located on was rendered nearly uninhabitable by a large meteor storm about 5 years ago. Most of the inhabitants had to evacuate to Earth or other colony worlds nearby. No one's heard from those who stayed behind in almost two years."

"What?" Selvaria replied, obviously confused, "what do you mean, 'the planet that Gallia was located on'?"

"She means the planet that Gallia was located on? I don't think it's that complicated. Gallia's not on this planet, it's on a different one that was destroyed five years ago," Hauser declared. Selvaria was quickly beginning to dislike this man.

"Unless… she didn't realize she was on a different planet until we told her so," the Spartan whispered to herself, "that blue light… what could it have been?" A voice from the transmitter broke her from her thoughts.

"This is UNSC Pelican 017 to any friendly units on the surface of Harvest. Is anyone left down there," a man's voice called.

The Spartan put the communicator to her ear and replied. "This is Spartan-023, we're out numbered and in need of immediate evac."

"Rodger 023, we copy, but we can't exactly give you curb side service. Sending rendezvous coordinates now. It looks like…"

"Wait a second… I know this voice. Is that you?" 023 asked, her eyes widening with surprise.

"Daisy, that's you isn't it," the voice replied.

"Ralph," she exclaimed as she realized she was right. Selvaria stood quietly as Daisy and Ralph talked for a moment. Her attention was drawn to a small stuffed bear attached to Daisy's armor at the hip. She couldn't help but wonder what the story behind it was. As Daisy confirmed the evac coordinates, Selvaria turned and walked away. She still didn't know what had happened to her, but she wasn't going to find the answer here. Neither the marines nor the Spartan even noticed she was gone until it was too late.

….

Selvaria had wandered for quite some time, anxiously thinking about what had happened to her. She remembered being defeated in Ghirlandaio Citadel and then using her Final Valkyrian Flame to annihilate the Gallian army. After that, the first thing she remembered was waking up to find herself under attack by these strange Covenant creatures.

"That man spoke of planets… could it be that I was somehow transported through space… but then, if my planet was destroyed five years ago, that must mean that I have also traveled through time as well. Is this the true fate of those who use the Final Flame?" she wondered aloud looking at the unfamiliar scenery around her.

_I know someone who lived there,_ _but the planet that Gallia was located on was rendered nearly uninhabitable by a large meteor storm about 5 years ago._

"Of course, how could I have been so foolish? That woman, Daisy, said that she knew someone who had lived there. If I can find her, I'm certain she can tell me more," Selvaria realized, "I have to find that woman!" she declared turning and taking off the way she had come.

….

Meanwhile, Daisy and her Marines had arrived at a hilltop just outside their evac point. While the men hid below, Daisy and Hauser scanned the area below. It was crawling with Covenant.

"They just don't quit," Hauser cursed, "sure are a lot of 'em down there."

"Which makes it all the more important that we be ready to move as soon as we see the transport," Daisy replied.

"Fine by me. I'll find us a hog," Hauser declared sliding back down the hill.

"Good plan," Daisy declared, _I hope that woman will be alright. I can't believe she snuck off while we weren't watching._

….

It wasn't long before Daisy and her Marines had boarded three Warthog transports and were charging down the hill towards the rendezvous, a large helipad at the end of a long, wide bridge. Daisy stood back on the machine gun, mowing down Covenant as they tried to block the road.

"Don't you dare slow down!" Daisy shouted as several plasma rounds bounced off her gunner shield and she continued firing. Just then, a group of Grunts and Jackles were mowed down from overhead. Daisy smiled as the transport came into view! "They made it!"

"Looks like you could use a lift down there," Ralph's voice called over the Pelican radio as the Pelican's guns opened fire. Everything seemed to be going well, until the Pelican gunned down an elite who was preparing to throw a plasma grenade! The grenade flew from the dying Elite's hand, landing on the bridge… just as Daisy's crew approached that area. The explosion knocked one of the warthogs right off of the bridge as the remaining two slammed into the guardrails. Daisy and Hauser were the only two to crawl out.

"Sarge, are you okay!" Daisy called as Hauser stood up.

"I'll be better, once we're off of this rock," Hauser replied.

"Come on, let's go!" Daisy ordered, "keep moving!" She grabbed Hauser and pulled him up, pushing him forward. As soon as the Pelican touched down, the buildings around the LZ were covered with Brutes with Fuel Rod Cannons who were firing down on it.

"They're not gonna last long! Move!" Daisy shouted looking behind her to shoot, just in time to see an elite pull the trigger on its Needler. Without thinking, Daisy shoved Hauser forward, taking three needles through her chest. She dropped instantly.

Hauser reached the Pelican before he realized Daisy was down. "No! Chief!" he shouted spotting his downed ally.

"Daisy! Hang on, I'm coming to get you!" Ralph shouted preparing to move.

"There's no time, Ralph!" Daisy shouted rolling to her back and drawing a pistol from her side, "get that bird out of here, now!" she ordered putting down a Fuel Rod Brute with a well-placed headshot. She cursed silently as another popped up to take its place. She was able to put down three more, but then her pistol clicked. It was empty. "NO!" Daisy watched in horror as the Pelican could take no more and exploded, killing Ralph, Hauser, and everyone else aboard.

"No… all that… for nothing!" Daisy cried, "I couldn't even do anything!" She watched as an Elite with an energy sword closed in on her. "So… I guess this is how it ends." She was wrong. A sudden blast of blue light claimed the Elite. She managed to sit up just enough to see the source of the blast. Selvaria Bles had arrived… only moments too late. One of the Brutes that had destroyed the Pelican opened fire with its Fuel Rod, but Selvaria easily knocked it away with her lance, redirecting into a pack of grunts and blowing them in all directions. Charging forward, she quickly reached the downed Daisy. The Covenant dove for cover as she fired a blast towards both end of the bridge with both lance and shield. Then, before the Covenant could recover, she grabbed Daisy, throwing the injured Spartan over her shoulder… and leapt over the edge of the bridge.


	3. Chapter 3

**HALO**

**Legend of the Valkyrur**

**Chapter 3**

Spartan 072

Daisy grunted softly as her eyes slowly opened and she found herself staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling. She only wished that this was the first time that had happened to her. She slowly sat up, but a burst of pain shot through her shoulder, forcing her to lie back down. She realized that her armor had been removed leaving her in only her red body suit she wore under her armor and bandages that had been wrapped over her injured shoulder. Glancing to her side, she discovered that she was lying on a bed and that her armor was on the floor near her along with her weapons.

Just then, the door opened and Selvaria entered the room. "So you're finally awake. I was beginning to have my doubts," she declared as she noticed Daisy staring at her.

"You?" Daisy said in surprise, "I thought… how did you get my armor off?"

"I didn't," Selvaria replied, "I tried to remove it at first, but was unable. I was about to leave you for dead when your friend found us. She was the one who removed your armor and bandaged your wounds."

"My friend?" Daisy replied, obviously confused, "where are we?"

"We're only a short distance from where you were injured. I couldn't carry you far. I found this house and brought you inside. Your friend arrived a few hours later. She said that she'd received a transmission that there was a Spartan still on the planet and followed your transmitter to find you," Selvaria revealed. It was clear that the Valkyria had no idea what that meant and was just repeating what this 'friend' had told her.

"I see," Daisy replied, "where is this friend?"

"She went outside. She said she needed something out of her tank so she could call someone to come evacuate us. She said she'd return in a few minutes," Selvaria replied.

"Her tank?" Daisy repeated in surprise, "it couldn't be. Did she give you her name by chance?"

"She only introduced herself as Spartan-072," Selvaria replied, "are all soldiers in your army simply referred to as Spartan and a number? I recall you saying earlier that your name was Spartan-023."

"What?" Daisy replied, "oh right, when I was talking to Ralph earlier, no, Spartan isn't my name, it's… wait, Ralph! Where's Ralph and the Sergeant? Are they alright!?"

"You know the answer to that," Selvaria replied, "you saw their vehicle destroyed with your own eyes. There was nothing I could have done to save them. You should consider yourself lucky that you alone survived."

"Consider myself lucky, huh?" Daisy replied sadly, "Darn it Ralph, why didn't you take off when I told you to!"

"He thought he could save you and his crew was willing to die trying. No less then you did for them," Selvaria replied, "if they had left, they would not have been worthy to call themselves true soldiers."

"Worthy to call themselves soldiers?" Daisy repeated, obviously unconvinced, "what's the point of that if they're dead!?"

"You may not believe it now, but there are fates worse than death," Selvaria repeated bluntly, "at any rate, we've no time to worry about that now. Those creatures are everywhere and we need to get somewhere safe quickly or else there is no guarantee we'll escape."

"There's nowhere on this planet that's safe," Daisy replied, "the planet's lost. If we wanna survive, we need to get off the planet, and to do that, we're going to need a ride."

"Then it's a good thing for you that I happened along when I did, Daisy-023," a woman's voice called from outside the room. The door opened and another Spartan entered the room. She was clad in light blue armor that was identical in design to Daisy's but it was covered by a light colored shawl with a spiraling pattern along the bottom that Selvaria had instantly recognized upon meeting the woman. A Darcsen spiral. Daisy smiled as she tried to sit up again, but couldn't.

"Don't try to move too much," the other Spartan ordered as she removed her helmet, revealing herself to be a cute young woman with short, dark blue colored hair. Selvaria's eyes widened with astonishment when she saw the girl.

"It… can't be," she gasped as she stared at the girl… "it's… it's her!" She remembered her as the tank pilot from Squad 7 when they had clashed in Barious Desert. The one who had likely been killed at some point between their clash in Barious and her defeat at the fortress that had set this chain of events into motion. "W… who are you?"

"Huh? Oh, that's right, I'm sorry, in all the excitement, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Spartan-Isara-072, oh, but please, just call me Isara."

"I…sara?" Selvaria repeated the name, still dumbfounded.

"Isara, what's going on out there? Are there any UNSC troops left to help us?" Daisy asked.

"Not many," Isara replied, "the last are going to be abandoning the planet in just a couple of hours. We have a new rendezvous point, but we need to hurry."

"Something this girl won't be able to do in her condition," Selvaria declared.

"Don't worry about it," Isara replied, "we don't have to walk there."

"You can't be referring to your tank," Selvaria replied, "if we need to move quickly, then a tank can hardly be considered a possible option."

"Is that right?" Isara replied, "lady, you've never seen my tank."

….

Selvaria was once again dumbfounded as she stared at the tank the girl had talked about. Isara had helped Daisy back into her armor and was now carrying the injured Spartan out to the tank. The armor was thicker and the design was more modernized, but the frame was the same as their tank. The Gallian militia's Squad 7.

"What do you think?" Isara asked, "this is my special tank. She's faster than a Warthog, has stronger armor then an Elephant, and more firepower then a Scorpion. I call her the Edelweiss."

"I… I can't believe I'm seeing this," Selvaria stuttered, "this girl… and this tank… it can't be coincidence. Who is she?"

"We can admire the tank later," Daisy suggested, "we need to get going, now!"

"Right," Isara replied as she helped Daisy up onto the tank and opened a hatch for her to climb into, "hurry, it'll be crowded, but three can fit inside."

"It's alright," Selvaria replied as she went back into the house. A few moments later, she emerged, carrying the lance and shield she'd acquired, "it'll be better that I remain on the outside," she declared as her Valkyrian aura formed around her.

"I think I agree with her," Daisy replied, "you have no idea what she can do."

"It can't be," Isara gasped at the sight of the aura, "but I thought they were only legends."

"Isara, are you alright?" Daisy asked in concern.

"Uh, of course," Isara replied, "alright then, let's get going," she ordered as she climbed into the tank and closed its hatch. Selvaria jumped up onto the tank which almost immediately began to roll away at an incredible speed.

"I don't understand what has happened here. This girl and this strange new place I've found myself in. To think that this could be the true fate of those who draw upon the Final Flame of the Valkyria, but then, I suppose no one could really know for sure. Although, if I'm here, then what has become of those who were caught in my attack? Did they perish or were they transported as well? I just don't know," Selvaria pondered quietly as the tank rolled along.

"Head's up, we've got incoming covenant!" Isara shouted from inside the tank. Sure enough as she spoke, several covenant forces were already coming into view.

"Let them come," Selvaria replied as her aura intensified, "I shall purge them all with my Valkyrian flame."

….

Selvaria's claim proved to be quite true as her overwhelming power reduced the covenant forces to ash. Caught completely unaware by the unknown power of the Valkyria, the Covenant were desperately fighting just to keep from being overwhelmed, but with the added firepower of the Edelweiss, they weren't having success as the tank continued to easily roll through all the resistance and continue towards the extraction point.

"How much farther?" Daisy asked Isara.

"Not far now. We'll be able to see the extraction point once we get over that next hill," Isara replied pointing to a hill in front of them, "how's your shoulder?"

"I'll live," Daisy replied, wincing with pain as she grabbed her shoulder, "but I'll be better if we can actually get out of here this time."

"We'll be fine, they're sending in a heavy transport this time. It can take a lot more punishment then the Pelican that was destroyed earlier, and a favorite captain of mine is gonna be aboard."

"They're sending him, huh?" Daisy replied, "we really are dead."

"Hey, that's not true, we're going to be fine!" Isara protested as they rolled over the hill. Their hearts sank when they saw no Pelican at the extraction point.

"Not if he doesn't even bother to show up," Daisy sighed.

"Hold on, up there!" Isara replied as she pointed up to the sky. Sure enough, a large Pelican was beginning to fly down towards the extraction point, blowing away Covenant as it landed. Once it was on the ground, 10 marines filed out of the back, formed a perimeter, and began to fend off the covenant as the girls approached.

"072, come in," a voice called over the Edelweiss' communicator, "listen, we're clearing the cargo bay for you. Just drive the Edelweiss right on in."

"Got it," Isara replied, "and Captain, don't ever scare me like that again."

"Sorry," came the reply as a man walked out of the back of the Pelican. Selvaria's eyes widened with shock as she saw him. He had spiky black hair with a red headband tied under it, and a familiar red cape. Slung over his back was a massive sword. It was easily twice the size, but was of the exact design of a sword she had seen many times before. "We got a little held up," the man declared as he turned his attention to the Covenant, "you freaks picked the wrong fight." With that, he drew the sword and charged at the Covenant lines. The Covenant immediately focused their fire on the man, but were unable to do a thing as the man displayed a level of grace that should have been impossible for anyone carrying a sword as heavy as he had and easily dodged all their fire. Leaping into their lines, he began to swing the sword madly, cleaving through Grunts and Jackals with ease as the scattered to try to escape the terrifying swordsman. As the man stabbed a grunt through its coolant pack and sent it rocketing into an elite, knocking the elite and the dead grunt flying into a building where the Grunt exploded, an Elite jumped down and faced him, wielding an energy sword.

"My, that's an interesting toy you've got there," he declared, "hope you don't mind if I take it," he declared, sidestepping the Elite's first strike and stabbing his sword through the Covenant's arm, causing it to drop the energy sword which the man caught with his free hand and stabbed through the Elite's head, "I don't think you'll be needing it anymore."

"Captain, fall back now!" a marine shouted as the other marines opened fire on the covenant and the Edelweiss rolled through their perimeter.

"Right, fun's over," the man declared, "do me a favor boys, and make sure your leaders know that your butts were kicked by Captain Vine of the UNSC. Now, I'll see ya again soon, I promise." With that, the man fell back, quickly reaching the ship as the Edelweiss rolled on board and his men boarded.

"Get us out of here!" Vine ordered the pilot.

"Way ahead of you, sir," the female pilot replied as the Pelican took off, blowing away Covenant forces until it was too high to fire down on them.

"Anyone else left on planet?" Vine asked another woman who was operating a radio next to the pilot.

"Sir, we're not picking up any more distress beacons. It looks like everyone on planet is either dead or been evacuated," the radio operator replied.

"Then get us out of here," Vine ordered.

"Yes sir," the pilot replied as the Pelican continued its path out of the planet's atmosphere. As it left the planet Harvest behind, Vine looked back at the planet they had just abandoned.

"We've already lost one planet, and it only gets worse from here," he hissed as they departed.


	4. Chapter 4

**HALO**

**Legend of the Valkyrur**

**Chapter 4**

The Spirit of Gallia

Selvaria looked out in awe at the dark void of space that surrounded the large ship she'd found herself in. So much had happened in such a short time and she hadn't had a moment to think since she'd arrived in this strange time and place. She had many questions and, so far, very few answers.

"You don't look like any Spartan I've ever seen," a soldier said, breaking her train of thought. She looked in his direction and realized that many of the soldiers were staring at her.

"Alright you jackals, give the lady some space," their Captain, Vine, declared as he walked past, "she's been through a lot, so at least don't give her any grief until we get back to the Spirit." He glanced back at her and winked, "sorry, but that's about as long as I can hold these guys off. Once we get back to the our flagship, they aren't my problem anymore. Name's Vine. I'm a Captain of the UNSC."

"Selvaria Bles," Selvaria replied firmly, "I'm a Brigadier General of the Royal Imperial Army."

"Royal Imperial Army, huh? If you say so," Vine replied, "sorry to sound like I'm interrogating you, but I'm a bit curious. What was a lovely young woman such as you doing in the middle of a battle on Harvest? You're outfit isn't exactly standard military attire, so I doubt you're part of the UNSC and I was under the impression that the civilians on Harvest had either been evacuated or killed." Selvaria blushed, remembering that she was still wearing the tight black outfit that left her back and shoulders bare that she'd worn as a soldier of the empire.

"I doubt very much that you would believe my story," Selvaria declared bluntly.

"I don't know, I might surprise you," Vine replied, "but if you don't wanna talk about it, I can't force you, so on to the next question. A little birdy told me you were asking about Gallia, is that true?"

"That's correct, but I was already informed that the planet was destroyed five years ago," Selvaria replied.

"Destroyed is a little harsh, but it definitely isn't as pretty as it used to be. My family lived in Gallia for generations, but after our planet was devastated by those meteors, we didn't have much choice but to move to Earth. Not bad, but I do miss the place no and again."

"You are a Gallian?" Selvaria asked, surprised by the revelation.

"That's right," Vine replied proudly, "I'm a descendant of some of Gallia's greatest military heroes who protected the country during some of its darkest hours. Unfortunately, there wasn't much anyone could do to save it when those darn rocks started raining down out of the sky. So what's your connection to Gallia?"

"I am not from Gallia if that is what you're asking," Selvaria replied.

"I got that. You said you were with the Imperial Army, meaning it's more likely you're a citizen of the Imperial Alliance. To say there's some bad blood between our two nations would likely be the understatement of the millennium, but that really isn't one of my top concerns right now," Vine replied, "You seem a little young to have been part of their army the last time our two countries went at it anyway, so I highly doubt we have any quarrel. I was five when it happened, so I don't even remember it all that well, except that my father fought in it."

"Tell me, would we 'have a quarrel' if I had been involved in an invasion of your country?" Selvaria asked.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I've got bigger things to worry about then a petty squabble between two small countries. There's kind of an alien race trying to eradicate our entire species to worry about right now," Vine replied calmly, "at any rate, we'll be back to the Spirit pretty soon, so I'll leave you alone, sorry to bother you." He headed towards the pelican's pilot without another word, leaving Selvaria to think quietly.

….

"There she is," the Pelican pilot declared after another five minutes or so. Selvaria glanced out the front window of the Pelican to see a massive UNSC Flagship floating a short distance ahead of them, "home sweet home."

"Well, Imperial, congratulations. You're going to be the first citizen of the Imperial Alliance ever to be welcomed aboard the Spirit of Gallia," Vine declared, smiling warmly at the Imperial Valkyrur. Selvaria smiled back, though she felt a bit nervous.

….

The Pelican soon landed inside a large armory within the ship. Immediately, medical teams boarded the ship, carrying off Daisy and a few marines who had suffered injury during the rescue op. Once the injured were safely off the ship and the Edelweiss had been rolled out by Isara, Selvaria finally walked down the exit ramp of the ship into the docking bay of the even larger ship. She looked around in dumbstruck awe at the incredible sights around her. The large cargo bay was filled with more Pelicans like the one she had just gotten off of as well as several dozen tanks and other vehicles. Isara had pulled the Edelweiss to a service area and was now outside the tank, looking it over as Vine approached her.

"Hey, Is, you up for a tinkering project?" Vine asked as Isara stood up on the tank and turned to face him.

"Uh oh, what do you want now?" she asked in a teasing tone.

"I liberated this from one of the aliens I killed," Vine replied pulling the energy sword from his belt. Activating it, he twirled it gracefully and held it up to Isara who jumped down off the Edelweiss and began to look the sword over.

"Let me guess, you want me to tweak this design into something that's a little more your style," Isara realized as she took the sword from Vine and shut it off so she could look over the actual hardware.

"I think it's a fair trade, I get a new weapon and you get a new toy to tinker with and dissect to your heart's content," Vine replied.

"Give me a week or so and I'll see what I can do," Isara ordered as she attached the weapon to the waist of her armor.

"Isara, you're a dear," Vine replied gratefully as the two noticed Selvaria who was hovering near the Pelican she'd arrived on, "don't be so nervous," he ordered, catching the Valkyrur's attention, "after all, you're kinda stuck here for a while."

"I'm sorry about Vine," Isara said apologetically, "he's rude and doesn't tend to think before he speaks. Please, make yourself at home, you must be tired after everything that's happened today."

"It's alright," Selvaria replied. She was quickly growing to like this young woman, though she was still uncertain about her male companion, "you said that this… ship… was called the Spirit of Gallia?"

"That's right," Isara replied, "this flagship was completed just after the tragedy on our home planet, and since so much of the ship's crew were refugees from Gallia, they decided to call it the Spirit of Gallia in honor of the tragedy."

"Some of the crew are a bit strange, but they're all good people, I think you'll be alright," Vine declared.

"Some of the crew are a bit strange? You're one to talk, considering that you're the strangest of them all," Isara declared.

"Guilty as charged," Vine declared, rubbing the back of his head and laughing a bit, causing Selvaria to chuckle a bit. "Huh, what's so funny?"

"It's nothing, you just remind me of a clown I knew during my time with the Imperial Army," Selvaria replied.

"I remind you… of a clown?"

"You remind me of a clown, too," Isara replied bluntly, causing Vine to sigh in defeat, "come on, I'll show you around the ship."

….

"And here's where you can get something to eat," Isara declared as she led Selvaria and Vine into the ship's cafeteria, the final stop on the tour of the UNSC Spirit of Gallia.

"Speaking of, don't mind if I do," Vine declared, "I'm starving."

"I'm afraid now is not the time for a meal, Captain," a woman suddenly declared as a glowing, blue woman suddenly appeared next to Selvaria frightening her.

"El!" Isara gasped, "don't do that!"

"Sorry about that, Selvaria," Vine said, looking at the frightened Valkyrur, "I'm afraid our ship's A.I. has a rather wicked sense of humor. You get used to her after a while. What's up, El?"

"The commander says he needs to see you on the command bridge. He said it was important, so I wouldn't keep him waiting if I were you," El replied.

"Well, there's my luck for ya, guess I better go see what the old man wants," Vine sighed, "I guess I'll leave the two of you here then," he told Isara and Selvaria as he left.

"I hope there isn't any trouble," Isara sighed, "come on, let's get something to eat, you've gotta be hungry at least."

"Oh, well, I suppose I could use something to eat," Selvaria replied as her stomach growled loudly.

"Heh, come on," Isara ordered as she headed into the cafeteria and Selvaria followed.

….

"I know it doesn't look that great, but it's really not as bad as it looks," Isara declared later after she and Selvaria had been served a tray of food, "now we just need to find a place to sit."

"Isara, over here!" a female voice shouted loudly. Selvaria's eyes immediately widened when she heard the voice and she quickly turned to the source of the voice. A woman with brown hair was sitting at a table. Her hair was tied in two pony tails that hung out under a red bandana that was tied over the top of her hair and she was dressed in a UNSC military uniform. Selvaria's eyes showed shock and dismay at the sight of the woman, the spitting image of the woman who had defeated her.

"Alicia!" Isara shouted happily waving back and heading for an empty seat next to her friend, "where's your brother?"

"Oh who knows," Alicia replied in an uncaring tone, "who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is Selvaria," Isara replied, pointing at Selvaria, "we found her on Harvest when we were evacuating. Selvaria, this is Alicia Gunther. She's a friend of mine."

"Ali…cia," Selvaria repeated the name cautiously, her eyes not daring to move from the woman who sat before her.

"Huh? Is something wrong?" Alicia asked, snapping Selvaria out of her daze.

"Uh, no, nothing at all," Selvaria replied desperately as she sat down in the empty seat next to Isara and began to shovel food into her mouth, trying not to make eye contact with the confused Alicia.

"Uhh, did I do something wrong?" Alicia asked Isara who just shrugged in confusion.

….

"Old man, I was told you wanted to see me," Vine declared as he arrived on the command deck of the Spirit of Gallia. A large, muscular man stood looking over a star map that was being displayed on a table in front of him. He was the C.O. of the Spirit of Gallia, Colonel Largo Potter.

"Oh good, looks like El found ya," Largo declared turning to face Vine, "have you ever heart of a planet called Antiron?"

"Maybe once before. It's an outer colony planet if I remember correctly, why do you ask?" Vine replied.

"Just before you got back to the ship, we received an distress signal from the planet. Looks like it's under attack by the Covenant. A local colonial militia is attempting to evacuate the civilians on the planet to local star ports to be evacuated off of the planet, but they're having a hard time," Largo revealed as the display on the map changed to show a large city with a bridge leading into it, "the largest star port is here, in the planet's capitol city. This is where most of the people are being taken too for evac. Unfortunately, it looks like the Covenant are aware of this, too because they're hiding the city hard. The militia are doing everything they can, but it's not looking good."

"Is this bridge the only entry into the city?" Vine asked as he inspected the map.

"By land, yes," Largo replied, "I'd say just blow the bridge, but there's a slight problem with that leaving the refugees without a way to reach the star port."

"But if they don't do something drastic, then no one is getting off the planet alive, unless we do something to help," Vine declared.

"I can't get in contact with my superiors so we're on our own here," Largo revealed, "whatever we're gonna do, we need to decide."

"Hmm, if we set up shop here, just inside the city limits, and garrison the bridge, we'd have a good defensive position to keep the Covenant away from the port. The trick is what do we do about the settlements on the other side of the bridge."

"We'll need someone to protect the militia transports while they try to evacuate the people from the settlements. It's a risky op, maybe too risky. Vine, from a military stand point, we'd be better off to just abandon these people and continue to Earth, but…" Largo stuttered.

"Don't talk like that, Largo. We can't turn our backs on these people. They'll die if we don't do something," Vine responded fiercely.

"I know you're right," Largo declared after a moment of silence, "tell all hands to prepare for battle. We'll do what we can."

"That's all we can do," Vine replied, "good thing we can't get ahold of command right now. I'm sure they'd love this plan."

….

Shortly afterward, Vine walked into the flagship's docking bay. Isara and Selvaria were there, along with a large group of marines.

"Vine, what's going on?" Isara asked.

"We've got a mission," Vine replied, "the planet Antiron has come under attack from the Covenant. Local militias are attempting to evacuate the civilians, but they're being overrun so we're going to intervene and help them out. There's little chance that we're going to be able to turn the Covenant back from the planet, but we can at least make sure that as many of the civilians as possible escape to try and make it to Earth.

"Sir, aren't we supposed to be heading straight back to Earth?" a marine inquired.

"Right now, we can't raise our commanding officers to get orders on how to proceed, so we're acting on our own under Colonel Potter's orders. If that doesn't sit right with any of you, then you're welcome to stay here, but the rest of you need to be combat ready in 15. Our mission is to keep the Covenant from reaching the UNSC Star port located in the planet's capitol while evacuating civilians from the outlying settlements across the bridge leading into the city and to safety. Once we've evacuated everyone we can, their starships will join up with the Gallia and we'll escort them the rest of the way to Earth. Any questions?" When no one asked a question, Vine nodded his head and continued. "Alright then, Welkin, Stark, he said looking at a young man with short brown hair and a young woman with darker brown hair that was tied into two buns on either side of her head, "I'm assigning you two and your squads to the bridge, along with Isara and her Edelweiss. If it ain't human, don't let it cross in one piece."

"Yes sir," the two Squad leaders replied.

"Nelson, Inglebard, your squads are with me. We'll be running the escort part of the mission," Vine declared glancing at a young woman who's dark silver hair was tied in two pony tails that hung off the side of her head and a young man with slightly messy, dark brown hair and a strange devise that went over his right eye.

"Yes sir," the girl replied.

"Just leave it to me, Captain," the man declared energetically.

"The rest of you will remain on standby here on the Gallia. Be ready to head planetside at a moment's notice, just in case something goes south. Alright, that's all I got, so get ready to move out," Vine ordered as the soldiers dispersed. "I just hope we're all still alive when this is over."


End file.
